It's an area bubbling over with history yet never known for its peacefulness. The celebration that once spilled into the streets of La Villita has since gone quiet.
"It's really quiet sad," said Patti Zaointz, with the Conservation Society of San Antonio.
But she's now hoping to change that.
At a time when Zaiontz is usually helping plan the popular Fiesta event NIOSA, she's now gearing up for something else: a crowd of hundreds she's welcoming to the downtown space in less than a month.
"It's been planned and that plan was submitted to the city, and (we) also got permission from the governor as well," Zaointz said.
That plan is the Fall Heritage Festival set to take place in early November on the four acres of La Villita. Zaiontz says they are selling 1,000 tickets for the event that will have food, alcohol and an opportunity to learn more about San Antonio's history.
"There is going to be a lot of space, plenty of room for social distancing," she said.
But news of the impending event hasn't sat well with some bar owners, including Braunda Smith, who runs Lucy Cooper's Texas Ice House about 15 miles away.
"I was very surprised," Smith said. "It just seems really tone-deaf that the city would approve a 1,000 person event as a fundraiser."
Smith questions why an event of this size can get approved while bars have largely been forced to remain close, some of them since all the way back in the spring.
"I just really hope that they take a deep and hard look that we need all of our businesses open in San Antonio – not just some, but all – and to stop vilifying one sector of business," she said, referring to city and county leaders. "It's just awful."
As for the event organizers, they emphasize that they plan to host as safely as possible.
"We're being cautious and practical with how we're going about this," Zaointz added.
KENS 5 reached out to the city for comment, and officials sent us the approved event request stating they do have the ability to shut down the Fall Heritage Festival if safety protocols aren't being followed.